A MAGA civil war broke out over President Donald Trump's Pentagon nominees, with a Republican lawmaker criticizing one of them and saying they are "the worst in the administration."
Tensions were brewing during a hearing Tuesday over Trump's choices to lead the Pentagon’s policy office and exposing some of the infighting happening among Republican lawmakers and the party, The Daily Beast reports Wednesday.
Austin Dahmer, nominee for the Pentagon's assistant secretary of defense for strategy, and Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby, were under fire over several major policy decisions. Republicans questioning the two expressed their disappointment in both of them.
Republicans slammed Dahmer, claiming he is hard to reach and calling out his choice to withdraw U.S. troops in Romania and end military aid for Ukraine.
"Many of the frustrations aired Tuesday came from GOP senators who argued that, regardless of such policy disagreements, Colby and Dahmer’s office has been uncooperative whenever lawmakers have requested information," according to The Washington Post.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) accused Dahmer of lying about briefing Congress over pulling the U.S. troops in Romania. About 1,000 troops will reportedly remain in that country.
The committee chair, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) at one point paused the hearing, saying that the briefings never happened. He asked, “Where did you get that information?”
Dahmer responded saying it was a miscommunication.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) described his and other lawmakers frustrations, saying they “can’t even get a response…and we’re on your team.”
He argued Colby as being uncommunicative and claimed that he is “really bad on this. The worst in the administration.”
Republicans are also weary of Colby, arguing that they feel "blindsided" by his decisions, frustrating allies and going against the White House policies, Politico reports.
It's unclear if Dahmer's nomination will go forward.